Freight Train Blues

Written by John Lair 1935.
Recorded by Roy Acuff's Crazy Tennesseans 1936, "Dynamite" Hatcher vocal,
Acuff mimics the train whistle.


I was born in dixie in a boomer’s shack,
Just a little old shanty by a railroad track,
The hummin’ of the drivers was my lullaby,
And a freight train whistle taught me how to cry.


I’ve got the freight train blues, lordy, lordy, lordy,
Got ’em in the bottom of my ramblin’ shoes,
And when that whistle blows, I’ve gotta go, 
oh! lordy! guess I’m never gonna lose,
The mean old freight train blues.


Now my pappy was a fireman and my mammy dear,
Was the only daughter of an engineer,
My sister married a brakeman and it ain’t no joke,
Now it’s a shame the way she keeps a good man broke.


I’ve got the freight train blues, lordy, lordy, lordy,
Got ’em in the bottom of my ramblin’ shoes,
And when the whistle blows, I’ve gotta go, 
oh! lordy! guess I’m never gonna lose,
The mean old freight train blues.